Fun, with Friends at the FHExpo!

Webguru BJ Smothers and AfriGeneas Founder

Valencia K. Nelson

The Atlanta Family History Expo has come and gone, and what an enjoyable experience it was for me!  In between sessions, and time at the bloggers table, I also spent time at the AfriGeneas booth, with old friends

The AfriGeneas received lots of traffic and many in attendance made a point to stop at the AfriGeneas booth and meet some of the staff of AfriGeneas, the largest African American genealogy website.

Blogger Mavis Jones fills out survey form at AfriGeneas booth

Individuals of all ages, ethnic groups and cultures stopped by the booth to say hello.   I met a budding genealogist who stopped at the table with a chest full of buttons and ribbons.  He also wore an AfriGeneas button, which he had collected at the FGS conference in August of this year.

    

Budding genealogist Marcus B, shows off his badges proudly, including his AfriGeneas button

Valencia K. Nelson & Sedalia Gaines at AfriGeneas booth

It was great to see friends from Atlanta, Philadelphia, and other parts of the country at the event. Published authors were among the many people at the Expo, some as presenters and others to network, and to learn.

Author Juanita Patience Moss, and VKN at the booth

Several researchers stopped by to say hello and to share tidbits from their family history.

A researcher of Rocky Mount, NC stopped by to say hello.

The AfriGeneas film crew was busy interviewing people who visited the booth.  Professor Dru, myself and others were captured on film by the webguru, BJ Smothers.

Professor Dru, was interviewed by AfriGeneas staffer, BJ Smothers

Meanwhile, next to the AfriGeneas booth, author Melvin Collier, sold out of his books, and then took the time to give advice to researchers who had genealogical questions.

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Author Melvin Collier goes over data with visitor to his booth

Meanwhile in the Bloggers corner, dialogue flowed, bloggers blogged, and new friendships were made. And also several new blogs were also born.

Blogger Amy Coffin assists another person in establishing her new blog.

Thomas Macentee of Geneabloggers and DearMYRTLE share a friendly moment

It was also fun when a photojournalist from the Atlanta Journal Constitution came through the exhibit hall to capture a few images of the FHExpo. Who knows--we might make the papers!

AJC Photojournalist on the job at the Expo.

I did manage to attend a few lectures and enjoyed listening to Melvin J. Collier present a lecture on African American genealogy.

Melvin Collier explained the basics of African American genealogy.

After two busy days, I am so happy that I was able to participate in this event. Special thanks to Holly Hansen for her work in organizing this event.  I hope in the future to have the opportunity to attend another promising event.  This was a fresh experience and I look forward to participating in more in the future.  What a great way to end the genealogical year.

The FHExpo Gets Underway

Drusilla Pair, (ProfessorDru) checks in at registration table

at FHExpo Atlanta

Friday morning brought several hundred researchers to Gwinett County GA, to participate in the Family History Expo, in Duluth Georgia.

I was excited to see genealogists pouring into the exhibit hall before 9 am, and to see the enthusiasm from so many people!!  More delightfully, the chance to see old friends from the genealogy community has been wonderful. From the AfriGeneas family, to the friends on Facebook and Twitter, the event has been a lot of fun already.  I had a presentation at 10 am, and will have another one tomorrow afternoon. 

I had the chance to listen to Drusilla Pair's presentation, "Let Your Voice Be Head" which was so enlightening.

Professor Dru captivated her audience

with digital features found on computers, phones and other devices

Friends from the AfriGeneas Family are well represented, including founder, Dr. Valencia King Nelson. It was also a special treat to meet a member of the family whom I knew from the old AOL Genealogy Forum days, Audrey Battiest. (I knew her then, as ABattiest)  Both have been covering the AfriGeneas table in the exhibit hall.

Dr. Valencia K.Nelson, AfriGeneas founder, and Audrey Battiest 

cover the AfriGeneas table.

Next to the AfriGeneas table, is  Melvin J.  Collier, 

author of Mississippi to Africa, chats

with the many visitors to his table.  

I have especially enjoyed watching some friends who have never met each other before but who have known each other for some time.

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Melvin J. Collier and ProfessorDru discuss items noticed online.

It was particular fun to watch DearMYRTLE teach one of her fans how to create a blog.  The new blog is called Great Grand Mom Selby.

A new blog is born! DearMYRTLE educates a new blogger

and assists her in creating her brand new blog.

Tomorrow promises to be a more interesting day!

Old Book Brings to Life Rich Histories

What a pleasure to find a biography of Rev. S. M. Fisher who was a pastor of one of the oldest black churches in Ft. Smith Arkansas. (Information about his life came from a wonderful book in the massive GoogleBooks collection.)  The book , Our Baptist Ministers and Schools by Dr. A. W. Pegues discussed the impact that leaders in the African American churches, particularly the Baptist churches, had during their tenure.

From the book it s learned not only about his contributions to the churches in western Arkansas (Van Buren and Fort Smith, Arknasas,) but also to the church as a whole, as he later became a leader within the region.

A genealogy friend and colleague in Tennessee*, shared with me an excerpt from this book, because it contained an amazing biography of her ancestor, Rev. Robert Johnson, of Washington DC.  The biography was rich and full of detail about his life as a slave, his escape to freedom and his life as a minister of the gospel. I was thrilled to read the passage that she shared, and even more intrigued by the book itself.  What an amazing treasure it is and it contained in rich detail much information about African American Baptist preachers throughout the nation.  

The great thing is that this book resides in the public domain on Google Books. Since I research multiple states, I was interested in learning whether pastors from any of the communities that I research, were included.   I was delighted to read something about a man, whose name I had never known----Rev. S. M. Fisher.  Ironically, Rev. Fisher, was a pastor at the First Baptist Church, in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, where my own gr. grandfather Samuel Walton had once been ordained as well. Reading his biography was enlightening, an  heart warming to see that this man left such a strong impression on the community where he lived.

The excerpts from Google Books about Rev. Fisher are fascinating:

(All excerpts taken from the book 

Our Baptists Ministers and Schools)

The greater lesson is that there are so many untapped resources that exsit.  Old books, manuscripts, personal papers, record sets--we should not stop looking for the next resource. Thankfully, my friend in her relentless effort to find more data on her own ancestor, revealed a very useful resource for all of us.  No one person knows of every resource, and this is a wonderful example of how important it is to keep looking.

(Special thanks to genealogist Sedalia Gaines of Chattanooga, Tennessee for sharing this resource.)

Election Day!

In Appreciation--the 15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

So many died so that we may vote!!  
Let us appreciate the shoulders upon which we stand!


VOTE!!!

AfriGeneas Friends Meet Each Other at AAHGS Conference

Selma Steward, (Selma) Shelley Murpshy (keli1) are joined

by a new friend at the Saturday Luncheon

Friends enjoy the luncheon before afternoon sessions

Aaron Dorsey (Khathu) has a quietly monitors the table 

before friends return to AfriGeneas Table

AfriGeneas chatters Khathu (Aaron Dorsey), EVPace (Veronica Pace) 

and Ingrid Doweary share a moment monitoring the AfriGeneas Table 

Selma & AYWalton at AfriGeneas Table 

(photo taken and shared by Shelley Murphy (keli1)

Kelley Bowman from African Ancestry DNA, shared literature with

visitors in the Vendors Area.

The second day of workshops went well on this second full day of the AAHGS conference.  Workshops and speakers covered topics from Genealogical books, methods for local community history, African-Native American genealogy and more were shared.

A highlight for most genealogy conferences comes from those who get a chance to see old friends, make new friends and also meet face to face, persons they have only known online, and this conference was no different.  That happened today, as members of the online AfriGeneas community met at the exhibit table and finally put a face to the names that they see often online!

All in all the day went well, and the conference ends tonight with a banquet followed by the much anticipated conference social afterwards.

This is one of the events bringing winding down the genealogical calendar for the year.  This year has been full and brought new ideas and stimulating discussions for all who have been able to participate. 

We can only look forward to another year.

Images from the AAHGS Conference 2010

AAHGS National President, Charles Howard, spends a friendly moment

with Ingrid Doweary at the AfriGeneas Table

The annual conference for the Afro-American Historical Genealogical Society (AAHGS) has begun at the Marriott Conference Center & Inn, at the University of Maryland, in Adelphi Maryland. Researchers from around the country have come together to share ideas, meet old and new friends, and learn.

I had the honor to represent AfriGeneas.com, the online resource for African Ancestored genealogists.  Meeting individuals who were familiar with AfriGeneas was a pleasure.



The author's luncheon hosted three authors, who shared stories of the inspiration of their book.  I was delighted to see Tracye McQuirter, whom I have known for several years among the authors presenting.

Author's Luncheon

Meeting author Tracye McQuirter

I did get a chance to sit in on a session, in the afternoon. Selma Stewart, president of the Hampton Roads AAHGS spoke about an interesting indexing project that her chapter work undertook, with vital records from Newport News, VA.

Selma Stewart explains her chapter's indexing project.

I look forward to a second full day. In addition, I will be presenting a session in the afternoon, on methods of researching "Blended Families---African & Native American Ancestors."